SBI Card and American Express cards: compare annual fees, cashback, points and airport lounges to find the right card in India.
This comparison examines 7 cards in India, among them SimplySAVE SBI Card, CASHBACK SBI Card, SBI Card PRIME, SBI Card ELITE, across the Visa, American Express networks. Three things genuinely separate one card from another, and the annual fee is only the first: next come the bundled insurances, trip cancellation, medical cover abroad, baggage, purchase protection, whose value often exceeds the fee as soon as you travel, and foreign exchange charges, which quietly cost 2 to 3 per cent of every purchase in another currency with traditional issuers and nothing at all with the neobanks. Payment and withdrawal limits matter too, and they are negotiable. The table compares them line by line, without an overall score: the right card for a frequent traveller is not the right card for someone who rarely leaves home. Anyone going abroad twice a year usually saves more with a no-foreign-fee card than a premium card's insurance ever returns in claims.
Select 2 to 4 cards to compare side by side.
Visa
Amex
| Criteria | SimplySAVE SBI Card Standard | SBI Card PRIME Premium | SBI Card ELITE Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
Annual Fee | ₹499/year + taxes | ₹2,999/year + taxes | ₹4,999/year + taxes |
Payment Limit/month | Within credit limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit |
Withdrawal Limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit |
Travel Medical Insurance | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Trip Cancellation Insurance | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Baggage Insurance | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Purchase Protection | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Car Rental Insurance | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Concierge Service | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Airport Lounge Access | Not stated | 4 international Priority Pass and 8 domestic lounge visits a year | Airport lounge access |
Cashback / Rewards | 10X Reward Points on dining, movies, department stores and grocery; 1% fuel surcharge waiver | Not stated | Not stated |
International Acceptance | Wide (Visa, Mastercard or RuPay depending on variant) | Wide (Visa, Mastercard or RuPay depending on variant) | Wide (Visa, Mastercard or RuPay depending on variant) |
Overview of all cards. Scroll horizontally on mobile.
| Criteria | SimplySAVE SBI Card Standard | CASHBACK SBI Card Standard | SBI Card PRIME Premium | SBI Card ELITE Premium | SBI Card Miles Elite Premium | Amex Platinum Travel Premium | Amex Platinum Card Premium+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Annual Fee | ₹499/year + taxes | ₹999/year + taxes | ₹2,999/year + taxes | ₹4,999/year + taxes | ₹4,999/year + taxes | ₹5,000/year + taxes | ₹66,000/year + taxes |
Payment Limit/month | Within credit limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit |
Withdrawal Limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit | Within credit limit |
Travel Medical Insurance | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Trip Cancellation Insurance | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Baggage Insurance | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Purchase Protection | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Car Rental Insurance | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Concierge Service | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Travel and lifestyle concierge |
Airport Lounge Access | Not stated | Not stated | 4 international Priority Pass and 8 domestic lounge visits a year | Airport lounge access | Priority Pass membership (worth $99) | Not stated | 1,400+ lounges (Global Lounge Collection) |
Cashback / Rewards | 10X Reward Points on dining, movies, department stores and grocery; 1% fuel surcharge waiver | 5% cashback online, 1% offline | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Up to 10,000 bonus points on spend milestones | 3X Membership Rewards points on overseas spend |
International Acceptance | Wide (Visa, Mastercard or RuPay depending on variant) | Wide (Visa, Mastercard or RuPay depending on variant) | Wide (Visa, Mastercard or RuPay depending on variant) | Wide (Visa, Mastercard or RuPay depending on variant) | Wide (Visa, Mastercard or RuPay depending on variant) | Good in big cities, narrower than Visa or RuPay | Good in big cities, narrower than Visa or RuPay |
Explore details of each type of benefit and service.
| Card | Travel Medical | Trip Cancellation | Baggage | Car Rental |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SimplySAVE SBI Card | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
CASHBACK SBI Card | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
SBI Card PRIME | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
SBI Card ELITE | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
SBI Card Miles Elite | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Amex Platinum Travel | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
Amex Platinum Card | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
* Cover depends on each card's terms; "Not stated" means the issuer does not mention it on its product page.
Our recommendations based on your usage profile.
You travel often and want airport lounges.
₹2,999 a year: 4 international Priority Pass and 8 domestic lounge visits a year, ₹3,000 welcome voucher. Miles Elite (₹4,999): travel credits and Priority Pass membership. Amex cards are closed to new applications in October 2026.
You want a low-cost card with rewards.
₹499 a year: 10X points on dining, movies and grocery, 2,000 welcome points. CASHBACK SBI Card (₹999): 5% online and 1% offline.
You shop online a lot.
5% cashback on online spends and 1% offline, for ₹999 a year.
You want premium benefits.
₹4,999 a year: ₹5,000 voucher, movie tickets and up to 50,000 bonus points. The Amex Platinum Card (₹66,000) offers 1,400+ lounges, but new applications are paused.
RuPay is India's national network run by NPCI. RuPay credit cards can be linked to UPI to pay by QR code. Visa and Mastercard remain more widely accepted abroad. Many cards, such as SBI Card's, come in several networks.
Collected in October 2026, before taxes: SimplySAVE ₹499, CASHBACK ₹999, PRIME ₹2,999, ELITE and Miles Elite ₹4,999 a year. 18% GST is added to fees.
In October 2026, American Express temporarily paused new card applications in India during a platform update. Listed fees remain: Platinum Travel ₹5,000, Platinum Reserve ₹10,000, Platinum Card ₹66,000 a year, before taxes.
Interest on unpaid balances is high: up to 3.75% a month at ICICI Bank, for example. 18% GST applies to fees and interest. Always pay the total amount due.
Always pay in the local currency and decline conversion into rupees offered by the terminal (dynamic currency conversion), whose rate is usually worse.
Yes, DICGC insures deposits up to ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank.
India's card market is growing fast, driven by UPI (Unified Payments Interface), which dominates everyday payments. RuPay, the national network run by NPCI, coexists with Visa and Mastercard, and RuPay credit cards can now be linked to UPI. SBI Card, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank are among the main issuers.
India has gone through a rapid digital transformation since the 2016 demonetisation and the launch of UPI, backed by the Digital India programme. Credit cards are mainly used for rewards, online shopping and travel. Annual fees are often reversed above a yearly spending threshold.
Indian cards fall into debit cards (RuPay, Visa, Mastercard, linked to a savings account), credit cards and prepaid wallets. At SBI Card, the range runs from the SimplySAVE (₹499 a year) to the ELITE and Miles Elite (₹4,999), with airport lounges from the PRIME (₹2,999). American Express paused new applications in India in October 2026.
Annual fees collected in October 2026 range from ₹499 (SimplySAVE SBI Card) to ₹66,000 (Amex Platinum Card), before taxes; 18% GST applies to fees. Interest on unpaid balances is high (up to 3.75% a month at ICICI Bank). The RBI supervises the sector and DICGC insures deposits up to ₹5 lakh.
For an India resident, UPI covers most everyday payments. A credit card adds value: CASHBACK SBI Card (5% online) for internet shopping, SimplySAVE for everyday spending, PRIME or Miles Elite for airport lounges. Weigh the annual fee against the possible reversal based on your spending and always pay the total due.
* Fees collected in October 2026 from issuers' official pages (SBI Card, American Express, ICICI Bank). They may change: check with the issuer before applying. Supervised by the RBI. Deposits insured up to ₹5 lakh (DICGC).